Crash Course in Reading Comics - Superhero Saturday

Wise. Faerie. Noble. Brash. Feeble. Merciful. Bloodthirsty. Incompetent. Kind. Virile. Cuckold. All of these have been used in the description of King Arthur. Why mention an old myth? King Arthur is the proto-super hero that is probably the first "comic book" hero.  Previous tales of legendary exploits are locked-in to one story, but King Arthur captured the imagination of various cultures across a few centuries.  There is no one King Arthur myth, there are many re-tellings. The purpose of such a hero is be an allegory for that particular culture. There is no one "fixed" rendition.

King Arthur by Buffalo Bonker

That is why I am disappointed with studio executives decision to curtail the tattooed Jared Leto Joker.  If heroes and villains are allegories for the dreams and nightmares of society, then they missed a golden opportunity to re-tell the Joker. For those who want their stories to stay the same, congratulations: you're irrelevant.  There is a reason why ancient tales of heroes and gods have stayed the same - the relevant culture no longer existed and no longer produced new ways to interpret life around them. Allowing for these changes brings new flavours, such as Harley Quinn being created due to her popularity in the 90s cartoon series or John Diggle entering the comics due to the actor's charisma on the Arrow TV show.

I could see that Joker as a 'hipster Joker' who is too cool for social mores - respecting people's life and property is too main stream. That could be a frightening natural conclusion to why the Joker laughs at society. You know another Joker that people initially hated the idea of? Heath Ledger's portrayal. Comics have replaced gods and heroes of ancient times for a modern aesthetic, so you've got to understand that in a post-modern society there are going to be tropes to be aware of. The only thing to be cautious of is concerns over American Cultural Hegemony with these being the standard story but you're here to learn about comic books and not Marxist philosophy. So, moving on...

Prior to going on a comic reading spree, I have to advise 'double think' is required for comic reading when you have established properties. The easiest way to break suspension of disbelief is knowing that no matter what happens, Batman's name is on the cover so he's safe or at the very least coming back after maybe a year or two hiatus. Also, sometimes there are story-lines that you know about prior to actually reading them, so you need to just enjoy the execution of the tale telling than the destination. This shouldn't be so hard, as we've seen Bruce Wayne's parents get murdered over and over again. Just because you know that Selina Kyle is Catwoman, you've got to ignore that until she takes the mantle of Catwoman.

Crimefighters by Brandon Bird

The easiest way to start reading comics is just go with what's popular now or what is famous. Endalyon has his list of "6 Batman Fundamentals" as a safe way to start in Batman lore. Saga is one of the biggest comics right now, so if you don't mind truly weird Space Opera, give it a shot. The Dark Knight Rises is based off of two comic book storylines: Knightfall and No Man's Land. You can try to track down those trades if you really liked the story of Dark Knight Rises. Or really ease your way in by reading already adapted movie properties to just get used to the format, such as Watchmen, Sin City, Red, 30 Days of Night or Kick-Ass. There's also the non-obvious comic book movies; such as, Ghost World, American Splendour, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition or The Crow.

The other way is to go by what you know you like. Choose your comic based off of your favourite genre. Comics, like TV and movies, is finding what genres you enjoy and just diving right in. I guess by following Batman you probably like crime and possibly mysteries. The other is going by character though don't be surprised if they're not the one you got used to. For example, Superman used to kill people in his first few issues - like laughing at a guy choking to death. Some of the more enjoyable comics is when someone decides to take another take at a character - like Injustice Superman willing to kill or Mark Millar's Old Man Logan with Wolverine being a pacifist.

Don't be afraid to walk away either. Sometimes your favourite character, writer or genre can just not press the right buttons. The other end is don't feel like you need to start a series, especially at the beginning or if it is long running. I tried to tackle Spawn and Hellblazer at one point but I realized that there was simply too much. I read 151 issues of Spawn and luckily made the decision to quit on the 151st issue because I felt like 150 completed the series, then the creator realized Spawn still prints money so they just kept going.  Hellblazer is a fascinating concept but that was a case of just too many issues, plus my itch for modern wizard is scratched with Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series.

BAM THWOP by Brandon Bird

I've found some of the best runs are actually from cancelled series. The other thing to realize is that with the comic industry being a business, that means they've got to shake things up while keeping them status quo. One way to do so is changing writers. I like series that keep the same writer or bunch for its entire run so I can read the story they have to tell. The last example of disappointing I could feel was the New 52 Suicide Squad, after three trades the writer switched and what the previous writer had in mind got swept aside for a new vision. Chase the writer or the characters, but don't be surprised if you follow a series and there are some strange tonal shifts.

The one great thing of trying to shuffle things around is to create new classics. All it takes is about twenty years for a comic book villain or hero to become a classic staple. Or really, just one great writer. Frank Miller is responsible to revitalizing Daredevil, Mike Carey accepted a spin-off with Lucifer from Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Alan Moore was responsible for some of the early plot of Spawn. Bane and Harley Quinn are only twenty years old, yet most people can identify them as if they've been there the whole time. Personally, I am find the Court of Owls difficult to suspend my disbelief but I'm sure that's because they're relatively new as a Batman villain. Give them time and I'm certain no one will blink an eye at Undead Circus Ninjas.

These two factors are why I'm partial towards self contained stories, which usually means independent publications or Manga. How can you read so many comics? Luckily, they're easier to digest than books with what are called "trades". Trades are a collection of the individual issues to tell a story arc and usually take an hour to read. They can be anywhere from 4 to 15 issues, depending on the series.  You can probably read whole series through a public library at a minimal cost. Some times they'll even have super deluxe editions that are multiple trades, so each of those books has the equivalent of 30 issues.

There are quite a few comics I'm in the middle of reading, I'll have a list of completed series that I read below for you to peruse. As for incomplete series that I'm enjoying, in no particular order, I like the Injustice Superman; Robert Kirkman's Invincible; Mark Waid's Incorruptible; Bill Willingham's Fables; Brian Azzarello's 100 Bullets; and Brian Michael Bendis' run on Daredevil in the early 00s. As for complete stories, here's a list of my favourites if you want somewhere to start hunting about:

Tevesh's Top Thirty Complete Comics
30. Mark Waid's Empire
29. Frank Miller's Sin City
28. Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina
27. Micah Ian Wright's Stormwatch: Team Achilles
26. Mark Millar's Kick-Ass
25. Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
24. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns
23. Alan Moore's Top Ten
22. Mark Waid's Irredeemable
21. Warren Ellis' The Authority
20. J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars
19. Neil Gaiman's Sandman
18. Kurt Busiek's Superman: Secret Identity
17. Mike Carey's Lucifer
16. Warren Ellis' Planetary
15. Ed Brubaker's Criminal
15. Warren Ellis' Global Frequency
14. Brian Michael Bendis' Alias
13. Ed Brubaker's Incognito
12. Grant Morrison's Animal Man
11. Brian Michael Bendis' Powers
10. Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker's Gotham Central
9. Alan Moore's Watchmen
8. Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man
7. Warren Ellis' Desolation Jones
6. Mark Waid's Kingdom Come
5. Warren Ellis' Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.
4. Mark Millar's Civil War
3. Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan
2. Frank Miller's Batman: Year One
1. Ed Brubaker's Sleeper